Man In Black Chords & Guitar Lesson
Welcome to my Man in Black guitar lesson with chords. This is a great 4 chord song by Johnny Cash that is pretty easy to play at the beginner level. If you don't know the D7 chord, you can simply turn this into a 3 chord song by playing only the C, G and D chords.
The 7 adds some nice spice, so it's worth learning down the road. Let's take a look at the Man in Black chords and strumming pattern for us to play along with this song.
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Man In Black Guitar Chords:
Man In Black Strumming Patterns:
If you are a beginner and the second half of the intro strum is too much for you to start, you can simply use the main strum throughout the entire song.
Strum in intro:
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
D DU DU D U D DU U DU
Main Strum:
1 + 2 + 3+ 4 +
D DU DU DU
Man In Black Guitar Lesson:
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Man In Black Chord Chart:
INTRO:
G G G G G
VERSE:
G G G G
Well, you wonder why I always dress in black
G G A A
Why you never see bright colors on my back
C G C G
And why does my appearance seem to have a sombre tone
A A D7 D7
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on
VERSE:
G G G G
I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down
G G A A
Living in the hopeless hungry side of town
C G C G
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime
A A D7 D7
But is there because he's a victim of the times
VERSE:
G G G G
I wear the black for those who've never read
G G A A
Or listened to the words that Jesus said
C G C G
About the road to happiness through love and charity
A A D7 D7
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me
VERSE:
G G G G
Well, we're doing mighty fine I do suppose
G G A A
In our streak of lightning cars and fancy clothes
C G C G
But just so we're remi nded of the ones who are held back
A A D7 D7
Up front there ought to be a man in black
VERSE:
G G G G
I wear it for the sick and lonely old
G G A A
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold
C G C G
I wear the black in mourning for the lives that could have been
A A D7 D7
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men
VERSE:
G G G G
And I wear it for the thousands who have died
G G A A
Believing that the Lord was on their side
C G C G
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died
A A D7 D7
Believing that we all were on their side
VERSE:
G G G G
Well, there's things that never will be right I know
G G A A
And things need changing everywhere you go
C G C G
But till we start to make a move to make a few things right
A A D7 D7
You'll never see me wear a suit of white
VERSE:
G G G G
Oh, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day
G G A A
And tell the world that everything's o-kay
C G C G
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back
G A D7 G
Till things are brighter, I'm the man in black
This file is the author’s own work and represents his interpretation of this song. It’s intended solely for private study, scholarship or research.
We do not distribute printable chord and lyrics charts. These charts are here only to support online learning. We highly recommend buying music from Hal Leonard or a reputable online sheet music store.